Posts Tagged ‘ryan kesler’
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Nicklas Lidstrom (James Teterenko, Wikimedia Commons)
Not a bad evening for me in predicting the NHL Awards.
I got five of the seven right, with the only two incorrect, the Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy.
I still completely disagree with awarding Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings with the Norris Trophy for best defenceman of the year. It should be a non-starter to award a Norris Trophy to a minus-player, regardless of your outstanding hockey resume. Lidstrom has now won his seventh Norris Trophy. Only Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins has more with eight. I feel Lidstrom won the award based more on his reputation for his outstanding performances over the last decade rather than this season, which should have come into the equation significantly more.
Regarding the Hart, the voters went with Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks over Daniel Sedin (my choice) of the Vancouver Canucks. They decided to focus more on the word “valuable” in deciding the winner this year than the word “best”. I have no problem with that, because if it wasn’t for Perry’s outstanding last two months in the regular season, the Ducks don’t even make the playoffs.
But, I was right with Jeff Skinner (Calder), Tim Thomas (Vezina), Dan Bylsma (Art Ross), Martin St. Louis (Lady Byng) and Ryan Kesler (Selke).
Tags: anaheim ducks, corey perry, dan bylsma, detroit red wings, Jeff Skinner, martin st. louis, nicklas lidstrom, ryan kesler, tim thomas
Posted in NHL |
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
Tomorrow is actually one of my favourite times of year. The NHL Awards night in Las Vegas. Here are my predictions for 2010-11.
CALDER– JEFF SKINNER–CAROLINA HURRICANES–Should the Oilers should have taken Skinner over Taylor Hall? Well, if you go by their rookie seasons, you could clearly make a case for the 19 year old out of Markham, Ontario. He led all rookies with 63 regular season points on a Hurricanes’ club that was in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt all season long.
NORRIS–ZDENO CHARA–BOSTON BRUINS–My vote was actually Lubomir Visnovsky of the Anaheim Ducks, who led all defencemen with 68 points and was a +18. But, confusingly he was never one of the three finalists. Chara won the trophy back in 2009, and should win it this year. Despite recording only 44 points, fewer than Niklas Lidstrom of Detroit (62) and Shea Weber of Nashville (48), Chara was a +33 to lead all blueliners, and was a +35 higher than Lidstrom.
SELKE–RYAN KESLER–VANCOUVER CANUCKS–The American silver medallist provided the Canucks with outstanding backchecking all season long, and combined solid defense with respectable offensive numbers (41 goals, 32 assists). A major reason why the Canucks had an NHL best +77 goals for and against differential, was the play of Kesler on the Canucks’ second line, who was also a +24 in 2010-11.
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Tags: boston bruins, carolina hurricanes, dan bylsma, daniel sedin, Jeff Skinner, martin st. louis, NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins, ryan kesler, tampa bay lightning, tim thomas, Vancouver Canucks, Zdeno Chara
Posted in Home |
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
It was quite an end to the NHL season on Wednesday night in Vancouver, riots aside, with the Boston Bruins providing a huge upset at Rogers Arena to capture the 2011 Stanley Cup.
Now, when I say “upset,” it’s not so much that the Bruins beat the Canucks, it’s how they did it. Did anyone honestly predict that Boston, who had scored three times in Vancouver over the first three games there, would come out and put up a four-spot in game seven? I certainly didn’t!
One thing that wasn’t a surprise at all was the awarding of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas – he earned his second shutout of the final in the deciding game and ends up with a 1.14 goals against average against Vancouver. He was absolutely ridiculous during the playoffs and many people were convinced that he would win MVP honors regardless of the outcome on Wednesday.
Here’s the bad news though: that’s it for the season! We’ve got the NHL awards coming up, the draft a few days later, free agency kicks off a week after that and then we’re into the dog days!
Before we completely close the book on the season that was though, I feel it’s only fitting that we look back at the top 10 goals (as chosen by me) of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs… (more…)
Tags: alex burrows, anaheim ducks, bobby ryan, bruins, bryan bickell, buffalo sabres, canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, conn smythe, darren helm, detroit red wings, Edmonton, michael frolik, nick lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Philadelphia Flyers, riot, ryan kesler, stanley cup, thomas vanek, tim thomas, todd bertuzzi, Tyler Seguin, villie leino, yeg
Posted in NHL |
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Raffi Torres (Bing Images)
If the Vancouver Canucks are going to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, they’re going to have to do it with strong goaltending, impressive special teams and timely scoring.
They got all of that in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight.
Former Edmonton Oiler Raffi Torres scored with nineteen seconds left in the third period from Ryan Kesler and Jannik Hansen as the Canucks won Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals over the Boston Bruins 1-0.
Canuck goaltender Roberto Luongo made 36 saves for his third shutout of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Tags: alexandre burrows, boston bruins, claude julien, david krejci, detroit red wings, Don Cherry, jannik hansen, kevin bieksa, mike murphy, patrice bergeron, raffi torres, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, tomas holmstrom, Vancouver Canucks, Zdeno Chara
Posted in NHL |
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Kevin Bieksa (Wikimedia Commons)
The Vancouver Canucks are heading to their third Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
They defeated the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night 3-2 on an overtime winner by Kevin Bieksa.
Bieksa’s winner in the second overtime was as crazy of goals as you’ll ever see. The puck bounced off the glass along the side boards and right on to his stick.
Bieksa shot the puck from the point, as San Jose Shark goaltender Antti Niemi had absolutely no idea where the puck was.
The Canucks were a little lucky to get a victory in this one. The Sharks dominated possession of the puck as well as shots on net, out shooting Vancouver 56-34.
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Tags: boston bruins, Joe Thornton, kevin bieksa, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, San Jose Sharks, tampa bay lightning, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in Home, NHL |
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Henrik Sedin (Jeff Gross, Getty Images)
The major story in Game four of the Western Conference Final Sunday in San Jose was special teams.
The Vancouver Canucks successfully killed off five consecutive San Jose Shark power plays and then scored three consecutive goals when they had three separate two-man advantages in the second period themselves.
In the end, it was a 4-2 Vancouver win.
Another major reason for the Canuck win was the brilliant playmaking of Henrik Sedin.
Henrik recorded four assists, setting a Canuck playoff record for most assists in one game. Two assists came on a pair of goals to Sami Salo, one on a goal by Ryan Kesler, and another, the insurance marker by Alexandre Burrows.
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Tags: alexandre burrows, andrew desjardins, chris tanev, christian ehrhoff, daniel sedin, henrik sedin, ryan kesler, ryane clowe, sami salo, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NHL |
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
Ryan Kesler (Bing Images)
A jammed packed weekend of sports takes this weekend. The Vancouver Canucks will host the San Jose Sharks in game one of the Western Conference Final (Sunday, 6pm, CBC).
This is the first Western Conference Final for the Canucks since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994 and lost to the New York Rangers in seven games. But it is interesting that the Canucks’ playoff most valuable player is a Yankee. Ryan Kesler leads all players in the playoffs with 15 points. He also leads the Canucks in the playoffs in +/- with a +6, power play goals (3), short handed assists (1) and game winning goals (2).
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Tags: atlanta braves, bob watson, boston bruins, Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley, david toms, davis love iii, devin setoguchi, graeme mcdowell, hunter mahan, jair jurrjens, joe blanton, Joe Thornton, lewis ratcliff, logan couture, lucas glover, luke donald, memphis grizzlies, mike conley, new york rangers, nick watney, oklahoma city thunder, philadelphia phillies, ryan kesler, ryane clowe, San Jose Sharks, steve stricker, tampa bay lightning, tiger woods, tim thomas, toronto rock, Vancouver Canucks, washington stealth, zach randolph
Posted in Home, MLB, More, National Lacrosse League, NBA, NHL, PGA |
Friday, May 13th, 2011
Preview: NHL Conference Finals
Only four teams remain in this year’s battle for Lord Stanley’s mug as we get set for the Conference Finals to begin this weekend.
In the West, the San Jose Sharks will travel to Vancouver to face the Presidents’ Trophy winning Canucks on Sunday, after avoiding a complete meltdown on Thursday with a game seven win over the Red Wings. The Canucks had a much easier time with the Nashville Predators in round two, though it did still take six games for them to finish the job. This will be an interesting series because, as good as both of these clubs are, there are still question marks next to certain aspects of each team’s game. (After the jump: Who wins this series? Plus, a preview of Boston/Tampa Bay and a costly celebration continues to cost the LA Angels!) (more…)
Tags: Baseball, baskeball, boston bruins, daniel sedin, detroit red wings, dwayne roloson, Edmonton, grand slam, henrik sedin, Joe Thornton, kendrys morales, la angels, Mario Balotelli, MLB, nashville predators, NBA, NHL, Patrick Marleau, phil jackson, playoffs, presidents trophy, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, San Jose Sharks, seattle mariners, Shaquille O'Neal, stanley cup, tampa bay lightning, tim thomas, Vancouver Canucks, yeg
Posted in MLB, NHL, Soccer |
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
Ryan Kesler (Bing Images)
The Vancouver Canucks have advanced to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 1994.
Now they’ll just have to wait and see who their opponent will be.
Last night in Nashville, Ryan Kesler notched two assists as the Canucks eliminated the Nashville Predators 2-1 to win the series 4-2.
Kesler has been by far the best Canuck in the playoffs. He leads all players in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 15 points–two more than Joel Ward of the Nashville Predators, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings, Ryane Clowe of the San Jose Sharks and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is also a +6 and has won 53.8% of faceoffs. Don Cherry said this past week Kesler is the early favourite for the Conn Smythe Trophy, and I would agree.
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Tags: detroit red wings, Don Cherry, joel ward, martin st. louis, nashville predators, Pavel Datsyuk, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, ryane clowe, San Jose Sharks, tampa bay lightning, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NHL |
Saturday, May 7th, 2011
Joel Ward (Rich Lam, Getty Images)
The Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators are heading back to Nashville for another game.
Saturday night in Vancouver, Joel Ward scored twice as the Predators defeated the Canucks 4-3. Vancouver still leads the Western Conference Semi-Final 3-2.
Joel Ward and David Legwand led the Predators’ attack with two goals each. Ward added an assist as well.
As for the Sedin twins. Well, they were a combined -7 on this night and were rarely in the center of the action.
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Tags: david legwand, detroit red wings, joel ward, nashville predators, pekka rinne, ryan kesler, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NHL |
Friday, May 6th, 2011
Ryan Kesler (Bing Images)
The Vancouver Canucks are only one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Final.
Tomorrow night at Rogers Arena, the Canucks will try to advance to the third round for the first time since advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994.
The Canucks currently lead the Nashville Predators 3-1, and I hope Sully and Force do their best to generate excitement throughout the entire arena.
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Tags: andres bastiansen, anna napravnik, archarcharch, boston red sox, brian duensing, calvin borel, clay buchholz, dallas mavericks, detroit red wings, dialed in, dirk nowitzki, jason terry, kentucky derby, los angeles lakers, mathis olimb, minnesota twins, mucho macho man, nashville predators, pants on fire, ryan kesler, ryane clowe, San Jose Sharks, stay thirsty, trevor plouffe, twice the appeal, uncle mo, Vancouver Canucks, world hockey championships
Posted in MLB, NBA, NHL |
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
Henrik Sedin (Fred Breedon, Getty Images)
The Vancouver Canucks are only one win away from qualifying for the Western Conference Final.
Thursday night in the Music City, Ryan Kesler, Henrik Sedin and Christian Ehrhoff all scored a goal and two assists as the Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semi-Final.
The number one line on the Vancouver Canucks finally woke up. The Sedin twins, now playing regularly with either Kesler or Alexandre Burrows, had their best game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Tags: alexandre burrows, christian ehrhoff, henrik sedin, nashville predators, ryan kesler, sami salo, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NHL |
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
Ryan Kesler (Orland Kurtenbach, Wikimedia Commons)
Until now Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks has had a solid Stanley Cup Playoffs, but haven’t had the results to show for it.
His luck changed significantly Tuesday night in Nashville.
Kesler, who had posted five assists in the playoffs, posted his first two postseason goals in 2010-11, including the overtime winner as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Chris Higgins was the other Canuck to find the back of the net.
I find it a little bit ironic that the Canucks’ two best forwards at the moment, Kesler and Higgins, are both Americans. Kesler is from Livonia, Michigan and Higgins is from Smithtown, New York.
The Sedin twins meanwhile continue to struggle mightily. They were a combined -4 with only one assist (a Daniel Sedin assist on a power play goal by Kesler). The duo were also in a terrible defensive position on the ice when David Legwand scored a first period shorthanded goal. We’ll have to watch out for Henrik’s hip as the series goes forward because he seemed to tweak it in the third period.
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Tags: chris higgins, guy boucher, martin st. louis, nashville predators, ryan kesler, ryan malone, sean bergenheim, tampa bay lightning, teddy purcell, Vancouver Canucks, vincent lecavalier, washington capitals
Posted in NHL |
Friday, April 29th, 2011
Chris Higgins (Rich Lam, Getty Images)
The Vancouver Canucks played a very defensive minded style and came away with a key 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
Was it me, or did last night’s game seem like a snooze fest like a contest that was commonly played in the National Hockey League about ten years ago?
Christopher Higgins scored the only goal for the Canucks during the second period from Maxim Lapierre and Kevin Bieksa. Roberto Luongo made 20 saves, but wasn’t really tested significantly throughout the evening, other than being introduced to a hard slapshot by Shea Weber from the point.
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Tags: daniel sedin, henrik sedin, kevin bieksa, maxim lapierre, nashville predators, roberto luongo, ryan kesler, ryan suter, shea weber, Vancouver Canucks
Posted in NHL |
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